Polyester-based fabrics and related products and method of making the same

ABSTRACT

A fabric comprising one or more manmade yarns and one or more natural yarns, wherein the one or more manmade yarns comprise more than 50% by weight of the total yarn of the fabric. The manmade yarn is preferably made of polyester fibers and the natural yarn is preferably made of cotton fibers. The cotton yarn may be any of 100% cotton, Indian cotton, Egyptian cotton, Pima cotton, Supima cotton, and cotton mixed with a manmade or a cellulosic fiber. The polyester yarn may be any of 100% polyester, polyester mixed with another manmade fiber, a texturized or multi-texturized polyester yarn, and polyester mixed with cotton or cellulosic fiber. The warp yarn or yarns may be a combination of one or more manmade yarns and one or more natural yarns, and the weft yarn or yarns comprise a combination of one or more manmade yarns and one or more natural yarns.

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to fabrics and fabric products. Morespecifically, the present invention relates to fabrics comprising acombination of manmade fibers and natural fibers. More particularly, thepresent invention also relates to fabrics comprising a combination ofpolyester and cotton fibers wherein polyester fibers form a majority ofthe combination. The present invention includes a method for making suchfabrics, and bedding fabrics specifically.

2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

There is a wide array of fabric products for a wide array of uses.Examples of fabric products that a person may come in contact withinclude bedding, clothing and towels. Of course, other fabric productsexist. Fabric products comprising such consumer products must complywith a range of characteristics of interest to people. Thesecharacteristics include, but are not limited to, the feel or “hand” ofthe fabric, the strength of the fabric, the appearance of the fabric,the durability of the fabric, the ease of cleaning the fabric, minimumwrinkling, if any, production convenience, and pricing. These are notthe only characteristics of interest but they represent primary ones ofinterest.

These desired fabric characteristics tend to compete with one another,with some characteristics more desirable than others dependent on theparticular products made with the fabrics. That is, for example, it maybe more important to have good durability and less feel concern for atowel, but better feel and less durability concern for a shirt. Thesecompeting characteristics have led fabric manufacturers to combinedifferent fabric components together to take advantage of the beneficialfeatures of those components in a single fabric product. However, therecontinue to exist limitations on the combination of characteristics thatcan reside in a single fabric product.

Commercial woven and nonwoven fabrics are typically comprised of yarnsmade of a plurality of fibers that are twisted together. The yarns maybe made of natural fibers, such as cotton, and man-made fibers, such assynthetic polymers formed into fibers such as polyester fibers. Thesefabrics are typically produced with one or more yarns that are joinedtogether by weaving, stitching or other forms of joining. The yarnsselected to make fabrics are chosen based on the desired characteristicsof the fabric. Synthetic yarns are generally made of any of a variety ofpolymers and are made with fibers of different thicknesses and shapes.The yarns are formed of a plurality of fibers twisted together into abundle.

Synthetic yarns are identified by the polymer used, weight per unitlength, referred to as its Denier, and the number of fiber filamentsused to make it. For example, a 75×72 polyester yarn has a Denier of 75made with 72 filaments twisted together. A “fiber” is a unit of matter,either natural or manmade that forms the basic element of fabrics andother textile structures. A “filament” on the other hand, is a fiber ofindefinite length. It can be found in natural materials, such as silk,for example, but is more commonly available in manufactured materials.Manufactured fibers are extruded into filaments that are converted intofilament yarn, staple or tow. A “filament yarn” is composed ofcontinuous filaments that may or may not be twisted together. A “spunyarn” is a yarn of staple fibers usually held together by twist or amelt-spun fiber before it is drawn. A “textured yarn” is a yarn thatdevelops stretch and bulk on subsequent processing.

As noted, fabrics are made with combinations of materials because it isdifficult to provide all desired fabric characteristics with a singleyarn formed with a single natural or synthetic material. For example, afabric may be made of a polyester yarn tends to be wrinkle-free while afabric made of a cotton yarn has a desirable feel for most users.Polyester yarns tend to be easier to manufacture and, so, tend to beless expensive than cotton yarns to make into fabric products.Additional features and limitations of note regarding materials used tomake fabrics such as bedding fabrics in particular include, but are notlimited to:

Polyester is cheaper than cotton;

Filament (manmade) yarn is easier to make than natural (cotton) yarn, sothat manufacturers tend to prefer using filament yarns, which can reducethe price of fabrics that contain primarily natural yarns;

Existing Chief Value Cotton (CVC), which comprises a majority of cottonand a minority of polyester filaments, while desirable to a certainextent, can still wrinkle;

The tensile strength and durability of fabrics made primarily withmanmade fibers is less than those made of manmade filaments;

CVC fabrics tend to be less shiny than fabrics made completely ofmanmade materials, and cotton fabrics have essentially no shine;

Cotton yarns are not as “silky” as polyester yarns and so polyesteryarns may be softer to the touch;

Cotton is difficult to wash and to dry, and harder to maintainwrinkle-free without ironing;

Cotton tends to pill;

Cotton is generally perceived to feel better to the touch than doesmanmade yarns;

The price of cotton is more variable than is desired by manufacturers,that is, cotton prices vary substantially depending on the crop andother seasonal factors, which are hard to predict, while manmade fiberstend to be more price stable; and

Cotton is not as durable as manmade fiber, and so its existence as themajority component in a fabric product is not suitable for allapplications, including in the hospitality industry, for example.

What is needed is a fabric product that combines the best features ofmanmade fibers and natural fibers. In particular, what is needed is afabric product that is affordable to make and sell, that has good feelwith limited pilling and is durable for the anticipated usage. What isfurther needed is such a fabric and related method of making such afabric that can be used to produce affordable, high quality, bedding.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a fabric productthat combines the best features of manmade fibers and natural fibers. Itis also an object of the invention to provide a fabric product that isaffordable to make and sell, that has good feel with limited pilling andis durable for the anticipated usage. A further object of the inventionis to provide such a fabric and related method of making such a fabricthat can be used to produce affordable, high quality, bedding. Inparticular, the bedding includes, but is not limited to, flat sheets,fitted sheets, duvets, pillow covers, or any other similar article, allsold individually or in any combination thereof.

These and other objects are achieved with the present invention, whichis a fabric product that is formed of one or more manmade fibers and oneor more natural fibers in which the manmade fibers are a majority of thefibers used to make the fabric. The manmade fibers are polymeric fibersincluding polyester, nylon and acrylic, and the natural fibers areselected from cotton, wool, silk and alpaca.

The fabric of the present invention is formed by weaving or knitting aplurality of yarns, wherein the yarns are made of fibers comprising atleast the one or more manmade fibers and the one or more natural fibers.The fabric comprising one or more manmade fibers, which may be referredto herein as manmade yarns, and one or more natural yarns, which may bereferred to herein as natural yarns, is configured with the one or moremanmade yarns comprise more than 50% by weight of the total yarn of thefabric, and the one or more natural yarns comprising less than 50% byweight of the total yarn of the fabric. In one instance, the one or moremanmade yarns is a polyester yarn and the one or more natural yarns is acotton yarn. The cotton yarn may be chosen from the group consisting of100% cotton, Indian cotton, Egyptian cotton, Pima cotton, Supima cotton,and cotton mixed with a manmade or a cellulosic fiber. The cotton canhave a count in the range of NE 20 to NE 120 but is not limited thereto.The polyester yarn may be chosen from the group consisting of 100%polyester, polyester mixed with another manmade fiber, a texturized ormulti-texturized polyester yarn, and polyester mixed with cotton orcellulosic fiber. The polyester yarn may be formed of filaments in therange of 8 Denier to 250 denier and the filament count is in the rangeof 14 to 324 but is not limited thereto. The fabric may be woven and theweave may be selected from Percale, 4/1 Satin, 5/1 Satin, 2/1 Twill, 2/2Twill, Jacquard, and Dobby but is not limited thereto. Weaving may becarried out on one or more of Sulzer Looms, Rapier Looms, WaterjetLooms, or Airjet Looms, but not limited thereto. The fabric can beformed into bedding with a thread count in the range of 120 to 2500 butis not limited thereto.

The fabric may also be configured with a plurality of yarns in a warporientation and a plurality of yarns in a weft orientation, wherein thewarp yarns comprise a combination of one or more manmade yarns and oneor more natural yarns, the weft yarns comprise a combination of one ormore manmade yarns and one or more natural yarns, and wherein the one ormore manmade yarns of the warp and weft together comprise more than 50%by weight of the total yarn of the fabric. Any yarn described hereinregarding the fabric includes any sort of filament yarn, as well asyarns with any desirable characteristic of interest including, but notlimited to, yarns with moisture-wicking properties, yarns with coolingproperties, yarns with anti-microbial properties, as well as yarns madewith any other such characteristics of interest.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a close-up view of a fabric of the present invention showing ageneral form of the fabric as including a plurality of warp yarns and asingle weft yarn in a plain weave configuration.

FIG. 2 is a simplified representation of a 4/1 Satin weave of thefabric.

FIG. 3 is a simplified representation of a 5/1 Satin weave of thefabric.

FIG. 4 is a simplified representation of a 2/1 Twill weave of thefabric.

FIG. 5 is a simplified representation of a 2/2 Twill weave of thefabric.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing the general steps, some of which areoptional, that may be taken to carry out a method of making the fabricof the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a table representing the results of tests conducted on afabric example of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a fabric that may be single-ply or multi-ply.The fabric is formed of a combination of yarns with the yarns being madeof fibers. At least one of the fibers used is a manmade fiber that maybe polyester, and the manmade portion of the fabric forms a majority byweight of the fabric content. At least one of the other fibers used is anatural fiber that may be cotton. The fabric is less expensive thancotton as it is not fully made of cotton. The manmade fiber of thefabric produces a filament yarn, which filament yarn is easier to makethan cotton yarn and so fabric productivity is improved than whenmanufacturing a fabric of cotton alone. That improved productivity canlead to lower manufacturing costs. In addition, there is a tendency forreasonable price stability for manmade fibers as opposed to the priceuncertainty that can be experienced with natural fibers such as cotton,which can be subject to adverse impact from weather conditions requiredto produce those fibers. That price stability aids in the manufacturingprocess. The fabric including a majority of the manmade fiber by weightis a more wrinkle-free fabric than a fabric made of the natural fiberalone or in a majority by weight and has better wrinkle-freecharacteristics than CVC.

The fabric of the present invention made with the majority by weightmanmade fiber based yarn has better tensile strength and durability thandoes a fabric made primarily with a natural fiber based yarn, includingcotton or CVC. This is of great utility when the fabric is subjected tosubstantial and regular stress, such as occurs for commercial bedding,including in the hospitality industry, that must be rigorously cleanedon a regular basis. That fabric is also easier to clean, faster to dry,and requires little to no ironing given its substantially wrinkle-freecharacteristic. For those consumers interested in having a “shiny”fabric product, such as bedding, for example, use of a majority ofmanmade fiber in the product improves shine and gives a richer fabricappearance than does cotton alone or CVC. In addition, the fabric madewith a majority of manmade fiber is softer to the touch and has a betterhand feel than does a fabric made solely or primarily with naturalfibers.

The fabric of the present invention that combines the manmade fiberbased yarn with the natural fiber based yarn such as cotton eliminatessome undesirable characteristics of natural fibers including, but notlimited to, a reduction in pilling and an increase in durability. Thepresent fabric includes positive qualities of natural fibers, includingthe feel of a natural fiber-based yarn, particularly in an embodiment ofthe invention in which fabric is produced with the natural fiber yarn ofthe fabric positioned as the “top” portion of the fabric; that is, aseither or both of the exterior surfaces of the fabric.

The fabric of the present invention includes more than 50% content byweight of yarn made with manmade fiber components and less than 50% byweight of yarn made with natural fiber components. As shown in FIG. 1,an embodiment of the fabric 10 of the present invention, which is shownin single-ply form, includes a plurality of warp yarns 12 through whichat least one weft yarn 14 is woven or knitted. It is to be understoodthat the weft yarn 14 may be a single, integral yarn or it may be aplurality of yarns. When the weft yarn 14 is a plurality of yarns, theplurality of yarns may be fastened together, such as by tying, forexample, or they may be separately woven or knitted through the warpyarns 12. When formed by the warp and weft yarns 12/14, the fabric 10has a front side 16 and a back side 17, which is opposite the front side16.

The warp and weft yarns 12/14 include a plurality of fibers.(Hereinafter, whenever the term “yarn” is not referred to specificallyas either a “warp yarn” or a “weft yarn”, it is to be understood that“yarn” is to include both a “warp yarn” and a “weft yarn”.) The fibersof the yarns 12/14 are formed of a combination of manmade materials andnatural materials comprising polyester and cotton. Specifically, thewarp yarn 12 may be formed of cotton, CVC, cotton mixed with one or moreother manmade or natural fibers including cellulosic fibers, polyester,or polyester mixed with any other manmade fibers. The warp yarn 12 ismade with a density in the range of 64 Reed (Ends) to 240 Reed (Ends)per inch. The weft yarn 14 may also formed of cotton, CVC, cotton mixedwith one or more other manmade or natural fibers including cellulosicfibers, polyester, or polyester mixed with any other manmade fibers. Theweft yarn 14 may be made in the range of 30 Pick to 120 Pick, withoutlimitation, up to any number of insertions for a single-ply yarn, amulti-ply yarn or a parallel yarn.

The cotton used to make the fabric 10 of the present invention may beselected from the group including 100% cotton, Indian cotton, Egyptiancotton, Pima cotton, Supima cotton, and CVC. The cotton count (NumberEnglish or “NE”) is preferably NE 20 to NE 120 but is not limitedthereto. The polyester used to make the fabric 10 of the presentinvention may be selected from the group including 100% polyester,textured or multi-textured polyester yarn, polyester combined with oneor more other manmade fibers, and polyester mixed with one or morenatural fibers. Filament thickness of the polyester component of thefabric 10 may be in the range of 8 denier to 250 denier but is notlimited thereto. The weave of the fabric 10 may be any of Satin (FIGS. 2and 3), Twill (FIGS. 4 and 5), Jacquard, Dobby, and any combinationthereof. Further, the Satin weave may be a 4/1 weave (FIG. 2) or a 5/1weave (FIG. 3), for example, and the Twill weave may be a 2/1 weave(FIG. 4) or a 2/2 weave (FIG. 5), for example. The weave may also be aPercale weave.

A fabrication method 100 of the present invention suitable for formingthe fabric 10 of the first embodiment of the invention includes aplurality of steps, several of which are optional, in the fabrication ofthe first embodiment of the fabric. Generally, the steps of the method100 may be carried out as shown in FIG. 6. In step 110, one or more warpyarns are selected wherein the warp yarns may be formed of or includecellulosic fibers, and in step 112, one or more weft yarns are selected,wherein the weft yarns may be formed of or include spun and/ortexturized yarns. In step 114, a weave or knit is chosen. In step 116,the fabric 10 is formed by weaving or knitting the selected warp yarnand selected weft yarn together. For purposes of the description of thepresent invention, the two terms may be used interchangeably, such thatwhen it is stated that the method 100 includes a weaving step, thatmeans weaving or knitting the yarns together. In optional step 118, thefabric 10 may be sized simultaneously with the step 116 of weaving. Inoptional step 120, the fabric 10 may be pre-treated to prepare it forsubsequent dyeing and/or printing, for example, or for any otherpurpose. In optional step 120, the woven fabric 10 may be furtherprocessed as desired to produce a finished product, such as bedding, forexample.

The skilled artisan will recognize that the yarns 12/14 may be woven orknitted to form the fabric 10 by using any one or more of a variety oftechniques that are well known in the art. For example, the skilledartisan will recognize that such weaving may be carried by using an airjet frame, and that such knitting may be carried out by using a 28-gaugedouble loop circular frame, but the method 100 is not restricted orlimited to using these exact type of machines. Other weaving methodsinclude, but are not limited to, the use of Airjet Looms, Sulzer Looms,Rapier Looms, and Waterjet Looms in manners known to those of skill inthe art. Further description of manufacturing steps and equipmentsuitable for making the fabric 10 of the present invention is providedin the course materials document of Professors Emel Onder and OmerBerkalp in the Istanbul Technical University course entitled “WeavingTechnology II Basic Operations in Weaving Process” available at

The content of that course materials document is incorporated herein byreference but is not intended to be limiting.

EXAMPLE

A fabric of the present invention was manufactured and tested for fabriccharacteristics of interest. Specifically, a woven fabric of 60×15Denier configuration was manufactured and was formed with a polyesteryarn and a cotton yarn, with the cotton forming the warp component ofthe fabric and the polyester forming the weft component of the fabric,with the polyester yarn comprising more than 50% by weight of the weightof the fabric. A sample of the manufactured fabric was delivered toIntertek India Private Limited, an independent fabric testing facilitylocated in Kanjurmarg (West), Mumbai, India. The Intertek testing of thefabric example of the present invention was conducted and the resultsare shown in FIG. 7. It can be seen by those skilled in the art from thetest results that the structural and wear characteristics of an exampleof the fabric of the present invention with a combination of manmade andnatural fibers including a majority of manmade fibers are positivelycomparable to corresponding characteristics of fabrics with acombination of manmade and natural fibers made with a minority amount ofmanmade fibers. Specifically, the tensile and tear strengths of thefabric are consistent with that which is desired in fabric productsincluding but not limited to bedding. Further, the color fastness,absorbency and shrinkage characteristics are also consistent with thatwhich is desired in fabric products including but not limited tobedding.

The skilled artisan will recognize that the fabric 10 of the presentinvention having more than 50% by weight of manmade yarn may be used forany one or more of a large variety of purposes and to partially orwholly form any one or more of a large variety of products. For example,the fabric 10 may be used to partially or wholly form apparel ornon-apparel products such as bedding, towels, and clothing, but notlimited thereto.

The present invention has been described with respect to variousexamples. Nevertheless, it is to be understood that variousmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention as described by the following claims.

1-19. (canceled)
 20. A bedding product comprising: a fitted sheet andone or more of a flat sheet, a pillow cover, and a duvet cover, whereinthe fitted sheet and the one or more of the flat sheet, the pillowcover, and the duvet cover are each formed of a fabric comprising apolyester yarn and at least one cotton yarn, wherein the polyester yarncomprises more than 50% of the total weight of the fabric.
 21. Thebedding product of claim 20 wherein the natural yarn is cotton yarn andthe cotton yarn is chosen from the group consisting of 100% cotton,Indian cotton, Egyptian cotton, Pima cotton, Supima cotton, and cottonmixed with a manmade or a cellulosic fiber.
 22. The bedding product ofclaim 21 wherein the cotton has a weight in the range of NE 20 to NE120.
 23. The bedding product of claim 20 wherein the polyester yarn ischosen from the group consisting of 100% polyester, polyester mixed withanother manmade fiber, a texturized or multi-texturized polyester yarn,and polyester mixed with cotton or cellulosic fiber.
 24. The beddingproduct of claim 23 wherein the polyester yarn is formed of filaments inthe range of 8 Denier to 250 denier and the filament count is in therange of 14 to
 324. 25. The bedding product of claim 20 wherein thefabric is woven and the weave is selected from one or more of Percale,4/1 Satin, 5/1 Satin, 2/1 Twill, 2/2 Twill, Jacquard, and Dobby.
 26. Thebedding product of claim 25 wherein there are a plurality of weaves. 27.The bedding product of claim 19 wherein the fabric has a thread count inthe range of 120 to
 2500. 28. A fabric comprising a polyester yarn andat least one cotton yarn, wherein the polyester yarn comprises more than50% of the total weight of the fabric, and wherein the polyester yarn isformed of filaments in the range of 8 Denier to 250 Denier and thefilament count is in the range of 14 to 324, and wherein the fabric hasa thread count in the range of 120 to
 2500. 29. The fabric of claim 28wherein the cotton yarn is chosen from the group consisting of 100%cotton, Indian cotton, Egyptian cotton, Pima cotton, Supima cotton, andcotton mixed with a manmade or a cellulosic fiber.
 30. The fabric ofclaim 28 wherein the polyester yarn is chosen from the group consistingof 100% polyester, polyester mixed with another manmade fiber, atexturized or multi-texturized polyester yarn, and polyester mixed withcotton or cellulosic fiber.